School Policies and Programs

DuPage/Will/Kane Counties
Illinois/Including Chicago Public Schools
Wisconsin/Appleton Area School District
California/Berkeley Unified School District
Other School, School District, and State Policies
Studies and Reports of School Nutrition Programs

DuPage/Will/Kane Counties

In 2005, the Illinois PTA, in partnership with the Illinois State Board of Education and Illinois Action for Healthy Kids, provided over one hundred $1,000 grants to PTAs to start programs to promote healthy eating habits and/or better physical education programs. In Indian Priarie District 204, the following schools received grants: Clowe, Fry, May Watts, Springbrook, Welsh and Indian Prairie Preschool. ADDITIONAL GRANTS will be available in the fall. If you want to prepare, you could review last year's application. Your local PTA presidents should receive information about this in August or September.

In April and May, 2005, Naperville District 203 piloted an elementary school hot lunch program with the District's food service provider, Sodexho. Click here to read a series of articles about the pilot program.

In the 2004-2005 year, schools and school districts in Aurora, Joliet, Oswego, Orland Park, and Chicago are facing the challenge to make positive changes in their beverage, vending, and school lunch programs. Click here to read two recent reports about these efforts and six reader responses to one of the articles.

In the fall of 2004, a new, healthy elementary school "hot lunch" program was rolled out at Prairie Elementary School in Naperville, Illinois. Click here for a description of the program (page 3 of the Green Earth Institute's Connections newsletter).

On November 15, 2004, the School Board in Naperville, District 203, voted 5-2 to modify its nutrition policy, to prohibit the sales of high fructose beverages during school hours. The new language reads: "At the elementary and middle school level, students are not able to purchase carbonated beverages during the instructional day. Beginning in 2005-2006, students in our high schools will only be offered healthier snacks, along with milk, water, juices, and beverages without high fructose corn syrup during the instructional day." In addition, Superintendent Allan Leis will initiate efforts with the Home and School Association and the School Family Community Partnership to provide additional education for parents on how to prepare nutritious student lunches and that we develop jointly some nutritional guidelines for those planning hot lunches and school parties. The elementary health curriculum will also be reviewed and updated as necessary in the area of nutritional health. For a record of the newspaper coverage, click here.

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Illinois/Including Chicago Public Schools

NEW On April 11, the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules of the Illinois General Assembly voted 10-1 to oppose ISBE's proposed rule change on school foods and beverages. On March 16, 2006, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) adopted proposed rules regarding food and beverages for sale in Illinois elementary and middle schools receiving federal aid for school breakfast and lunch programs. Click here to read more.

In 2004, Chicago's Perspectives Charter School started a lunch program modeled after that in Appleton, Wisconsin (see below). The Chicago Board of Education recently voted to expand this program to seven additional schools in the coming years. This initiative is described in "Flour Power," an article about the work of Paul and Barbara Stitt at Natural Ovens Bakery.

On October 27, 2004, the Chicago Board of Education authorized a new contract with American Bottling Company that will allow only water, fruit juices, and non-carbonated sports drinks to be offered in school vending machines. At elementary schools, only 100 percent fruit juices are permitted, and at high schools, the juices must contain at least 50 percent fruit juice. To read more, click here.

On June 23, 2004, the Chicago Board of Education adopted a policy on the operation of school snack vending machines:

"Snack products offered for sale must meet the following nutritional standards: 1. No more than 30% calories from fat per serving; 2. No more than 10% calories from saturated fat per serving; 3. No more than 40% sugar by weight per serving; 4. No more than 480 mg. of sodium per serving; and 5. Supply at least 5% of the daily value, per serving or per 100 calories of at least one of these eight essential nutrients: iron, calcium, protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, niacin, thiamine, or riboflavin."

"Weighing Healthier Options" - between March and September, 2004, the The Illinois Association of School Boards ran a series of articles that were published in the Illinois School Board Journal and School Board Newsbulletin. The articles provided an in-depth examination of childhood obesity, nutrition and physical activity as these issues relate to public school operations and school board policy-making.

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Wisconsin/Appleton Area School District

In 1997, the Appleton Central Alternative High School began a partnership with Natural Ovens Bakery to provide nutritious lunch meals using fresh produce, whole grains, and oven-baked entrees. Read an article about the program. Read a detailed report on the program - "Case Study: Appleton Central Alternative Charter High School's Nutrition and Wellness Program" - prepared by the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute.

The Appleton Area School District later expanded the program to other schools in the district and updated its Student Nutrition Policy to eliminate unhealthy snacks and beverages and improve the food served for meals.

Natural Ovens Bakery has produced "Roadmap to Healthy Foods in Schools," a packet that will help you make a change to healthy and nutritious foods in your school. The packet includes nutrition information, practical steps and guidelines for action, and a 14 minute DVD that explains the lunch program in the Appleton Area School District. There is an excellent article, Flour Power, in the Summer 2005 issue of the University of Wisconsin Alumni Association about the work of Paul and Barbara Stitt at the Natural Ovens Bakery.

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California/Berkeley Unified School District

Begun in 2004, the School Lunch Initiative in the Berkeley Unified School District aims to design and implement curriculum and food service innovations in a public school setting.

The School Lunch Initiative envisions revolutionizing school lunch by making food a central part of the academic curriculum. The Initiative includes gardens, kitchen classrooms, and lunchrooms as contexts for learning. It restores connections between what children are taught and what they experience, between nutrition, health, and the ability to learn, between local communities and the farms that feed them.

This School Lunch Initiative is a partnership of the Chez Panisse Foundation and the Berkeley Unified School District, in collaboration with the Center for Ecoliteracy and Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute. The project is grounded in the methodology and principles of the successful Edible Schoolyard program of the Chez Panisse Foundation and the downloadable online guide of the Rethinking School Lunch program of the Center for Ecoliteracy.

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Other School, School District, and State Policies

California, Los Angeles - School Food Motions
New Jersey - Department of Agriculture
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia - Beverage Policy
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia - Comprehensive School Nutrition Policy
Texas - Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Division

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Studies and Reports of School Nutrition Programs

Healthy Schools for Healthy Kids is a report of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, released in December 2003. Based on two years of interviews, school site visits and analysis, the study found large agreement among parents and teachers about what schools should do. More than 90 percent of parents and teachers surveyed favor converting the contents of vending machines in schools to healthy foods and beverages. And more than 80 percent of parents and teachers believe students should be required to take physical education every day at every grade level.

The Golden Carrot Awards by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine highlight four school districts: Berkeley Unified School District, Los Angeles Leadership Academy, Ross School, East Hampton, NY, and Fairfax County Public Schools. The Golden Carrot Awards go to food service professionals who approach child nutrition in an innovative way that encourages children to eat more healthfully. The winning programs feature low-fat meals; encourage kids to eat lots of fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains; provide vegetarian or vegan menu items; respect cultural diversity; offer non-dairy alternatives, and foster community partnerships.

California Project LEAN keeps a list on their website of success stories of school nutrition programs and policies in California schools. For each project, a detailed description answers: what did they want to do? who took action? where did this happen? why did they want to do it? how did they accomplish their goal? what were the results? what are their future plans? A contact person is also provided.

Part III: Case Studies - of the Center for Science in the Public Interest's "School Foods Tool Kit" - contains a brief descripiton of numerous school and school district programs and policies that have improvided nutition in schools. In addition, the CSPI website contains a web page full of links to various school and school district information.

Making It Happen! School Nutrition Success Stories shares stories from 32 schools and school districts that have made innovative changes to improve the nutritional quality of all foods and beverages offered and sold on school campuses. These success stories illustrate the wide variety of approaches used to improve student nutrition. The most consistent theme emerging from these case studies is that students will buy and consume healthful foods and beverages, and schools can make money from healthful options. Making It Happen! includes a variety of materials developed by some of the schools and contact information for each story. Making it Happen! is a joint project of USDA’s Team Nutrition and the Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH) and is supported by the Department of Education.

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Activity in Area Schools

November, 2004: Naperville District 203 restricts sale of high fructose corn syrup beverages during school hours and plans to sell more healthy snacks.

October 2004, Chicago Public Schools: The Board of Education voted to remove carbonated beverages from vending machines in all Chicago public schools. To read more, click here.